How To Fail At Blogging: 15 Insanely Absurd Tips Every Blogger Needs To Ignore

To think that you can actually fail at something that you have a serious passion for?

I mean … who actually wants to fail at blogging? Nobody, right?

But unsuspecting bloggers fail every day.

And the reason for the majority of their failures? Utter confusion.

For instance, have you ever been told, “All you need to do is just put ads on your blog and you'll make money?”

What a load of crap, right?

And even though Sarah Peterson debunked that “tip” in a recent post she did on Boost Blog Traffic, many people actually believe that. They believe that all they need to do to make money is throw up a few ads on their blog — and voila!

Their bank account is regurgitating money.

What a bogus “tip” that is, right?

Well, prepare yourself for a real shock …

15 Inescapable Blogging “Tips” That Will Pigeonhole Your Success

What if I told you that more than half of the “tips” you heard are bogus.

Lies being told to you to purposely lead you astray. All because a few money-grubbing “experts,” wants to be your knight in shining armor.

How?

By continuously sharing false tips with you, and other unsuspecting bloggers.

And they do that because they want you to be so lost and confused about what “tips” you read, that you'll have no choice but to buy their course/program to do things the rightway.

Their way.

Fortunately, I'm going to expose each one of these “tips” for what they are … total nonsense that needs to be ignored.

Let's start with the biggest “tip” that's worth ignoring, shall we?

1. “Content Is King”

How many of you actually still believe that?

Don't be shy — there's no shame in admitting it. But the truth is, that's just really horrible advice.

Here's why: Content alone can only carry you so far, but it's what you do with the content afterward that's important. If you don't get your content out there in front of the right people, it's as worthless as an election promise. Agreed?

But, this is one of those things that no matter how much you try to debunk it, it has legs. It always comes back. Sensible bloggers are suckered into believing it.

Heck, I read a blog post from a semi-pro blogger a few days ago that swore by it.

*shakes head*

The truth is, if you truly believe that content is king, you'll be watching in dismay as it sits gathering dust.

2. “You Should Publish On A Regular Basis”

Let me guess. You were told that one of the best ways to get traffic to your blog, is to publish on a regular basis, right?

How often did they tell you?

2 times a week? 3 times? 5 days?

Well, unless you're in the news or entertainment niche where you have to publish content multiple times a week, or even multiple times a day, then there's no need publish that often.

Let me ask you a question.

What do you seriously gain by publishing multiple blog posts a week?

Sure you may get more traffic, but is it worth it if engagement is down? Comments are cut in half — or non-existent? You no longer enjoy it?

And how about getting time to do the most important thing?

Promotion.

Hate to burst your bubble but publishing every day won't help your page rank. Nor will you get as much traffic as you think you'll get. The most it'll get you is more of your content out there.

But is that really a good thing if you're not able to promote any of it?

Nope.

The solution?

You should publish just enough content that:

You can actively promote and maximize the reach of that post.

Your audience can keep up with you without being overwhelmed.

In fact, I'd suggest that you publish once a week for a while. And over time, you can bump that up to twice a week — as long as you maintain the quality of the content. You can do that, can't you?

3. “Make Sure Your Post Is Keyword Rich”

Did you get the memo for this one?

Even Google doesn't want you to write for Google — or search engines. Yet there are so many bloggers out there misinformed about this.

I'm not saying that you completely ignore keywords in your posts. Just don't make that be the primary focus. Write content that your readers will enjoy, share and comment on because they're the ones who truly matter.

There's no need to stuff your post with keywords, hoping that it helps you rank.

Bottom line: if all you're doing is stuffing keywords and NOT writing for your readers, that post will certainly fail.

4. “Publish It, And They Will Come”

“All you need is good content. As long as you have that, your readers will eventually find you. In the meantime, keep plugging away.”

Bull.

If someone tells you this, get as far away from them as possible. Because they obviously don't know anything.

Yes, you do have to publish good content. But if you're just sitting there twiddling your thumbs, hoping that your content goes viral, keep dreaming. It'll never happen.

My advice: as soon as you publish your content, spend 90% of your time promoting it. You read that correctly — 90% of your time. That means promoting it to your list, on all of your social media channels, through effective blogger outreach and more.

(And maybe, just maybe, through all that hard work, you'll start seeing them on your site.)

5. “Avoid Competitive Niches”

I guess that means to avoid every type of niche then, right?

Because all niches are competitive.

Think about it.

Look how many people blog about Traffic Generation. Productivity. Blogging.

All of those niche's are highly competitive, yet we have bloggers like Ana Hoffman, Tor Refsland and Jenna Dalton all in.

I'll level with you. The more people there are in a particular space, the more potential money you can make.

I know, I know. That probably goes against everything you've probably heard before, right? But look how many people are in those spaces — and enter those spaces daily. On top of just having a heightened interest in that niche, they know they can make money in it.

And you can too. End of story.

6. “Don't Focus So Much On SEO”

Life is so full of contradictions, isn't it?Birds of a feather, flock together — but opposites attract.

The pen is mightier than the sword — but actions speak louder than words.

8. “Building A List Isn't That Important In The Early Stages”

Can you get away with not building an email list early on?

Sure.

But why would you want to?

Let's say you decided to follow through with this foolish advice, okay? You'll eventually come to the conclusion that having a list is valuable. That you need to start one. And you'll probably regret every day that you didn't have one — because you'll realize that you should have started building a list sooner.

Not just as a way to sell more products but also as a way to promote your content more effectively.

An email list gives you a direct route to the inbox of your readers. It's personal and it's immediate.

Better yet, it's more reliable than any other promotional channel. Facebook can drop organic reach as much as they like but you'll still have your email list.

– Adam Connell, blogger at BloggingWizard.com

Make the smart choice and just do it now. Start that list if you haven't done it already.

9. “Try To Make Money Right Away”

But the sad truth is, even if you try, you won't make much — if any.

People tend to buy from those that they trust and have a relationship with.

For example, my friend, Don Purdum, had an eBook come out a few months back that did pretty well. The reason for that eBooks success was the relationships he built with other bloggers and entrepreneurs for as long as he's been blogging.

And from those relationships, those bloggers and entrepreneurs purchased and gladly promoted his eBook to their readers. He even leveraged the success of that eBook and created a vibrant Facebook group:

Think that could have happened if he tried to sell a product the very first day he started his blog?

*shakes head*

(If you doubt me, and you're brand new to blogging, go try to sell a product to your readers. If you even sell 5, consider yourself lucky.)

10. “Blogging Is Easy”

Wow.

Anyone caught muttering that phrase to any blogger, sucks.

Plain and simple. They just suck.

Because if blogging is so easy, why do so many people abandon their blogs within the first two years? Why do so many people struggle to grow their email list? Why do so many people make less than $1,000 a year blogging? And why does less than 1% of bloggers actually create a popular blog?

Newsflash: Blogging is much tougher than it seems to be. And real bloggers know and understand that. The best thing you can do is take it seriously, but know that it takes work to truly be successful.

11. “Design Isn't That Important”

Are you kidding me?

The days of throwing up posts on a poorly designed site, and still getting a lot of traffic, is over.

These days, design has never been more important than it's ever been.

My friend, Ashley Faulkes, shares why that it:

Design, and it's best friend branding, are very important to a business or blog because they are your first impression. This is especially true online where your impact on a visitors, whether it be visuals or design of your website, comes entirely down to your website.

How this is done in practice depends on your personal taste, design experience and budget, but the following are crucial: have a clean, easy to read blog, that is well laid out, easy to get around on and stands out from the crowd. If you really have no idea about such things, simply find other blogs you like, find easy to use visit again and again, and use them for inspiration.

Bottom line: take the design of your blog seriously. Don't settle for just generic — take action to make yours special and memorable.

12. “Write Only Short Posts”

Did you know that writing only short posts are like making Ramen noodles?

Sure, you know it doesn't take much effort and is very quick to create, but after you finish it, you're still left unsatisfied.

Just imagine if the “Special Of The Day” at your favorite local restaurant was Ramen noodles. How fed up and unsatisfied would you be about that?

That's how your readers feel when you only deliver them short posts. First of all, you're no Seth Godin. You can't get away with short posts like Seth can. For example, do you think you can get away with it if you wrote this for your readers?

Look at how many share this post with less than 70 words received …

Probably not.

Because you're not as established or as big a name as Seth to get away with that.

My advice: You should try to aim for posts that are 1,000 words or more. To do that, focus on writing blog posts for your readers that actually answers their questions in detail. For instance, say you decided to write “10 Ways To Grow Your Email List With Evergreen Content.” You'll need to cover important points like:

Why Evergreen content is better than regular content

How can evergreen content actually help you grow your list

Detailed information of the 10 ways and why they work

At the end of it all, you would have answered their questions and probably written more than 1,000 words too. Don't focus on the word count when you write. Just get everything out as best you can.

13. “Images Aren't As Important As Content”

Are images important?

Sure.

Are they as important as content?

You better believe it.

Imagine this: you create an exceptional piece of content that you spent hours on.

Your headline is click-worthy. Your opening is captivating. You create a very conversational structure throughout the post. And, your closing paragraph not only sums up the post beautifully, but has a deliciously tantalizing CTA.

But, at the end of the day, your post doesn't get shared as much as you'd like.

But because your feature image is unoriginal. It doesn't live up to the post. In fact, it diminishes the entire post because so many people have used the same image before. And believe it or not, images contribute a lot to how often your post gets shared.

I asked the branding superstar, Dre Beltrami, what she thought about original images and here's what she said:

Images are a visually recognizable path to your solutions.

Without infusing your branding and signature style, which is what fosters brand recognition and awareness, you're turning that path into a dead-end. The truth is, branded images increase that 8-10 seconds we're always told we have as marketers.

See, by appearing in someone's social feed with consistent visuals you can build a familiarity that often leads to their desire for deeper exploration into your brand.

Intrigue, baby!

That familiarity builds trust, and trust is where it all begins. When you skip branding your visuals you lose all of this brand building boom juice!

Dre Beltrami, branding expert at TheBrandedSolopreneur.com

The last thing you want is for your images to be unoriginal and uninspiring. And I learned that from a comment left on one of my posts from Carol Amato:

So true, don't you agree?

Bottom line: Spend a decent amount of time on your images. Especially your feature image. If you don't want to put out something that everyone else has, get creative. Creating your own images makes it truly unique to you and help you stand out.

14. “Keep Your Best Content On Your Blog”

You've wondered about this, haven't you?

“Why would I give away my best posts on other sites as a guest post? Why would I be foolish and give that away?”

Because more than likely, you're a nobody.

Let's check that for a minute: You create some unbelievable content and decide to publish it on your blog. What's it going to get? Maybe a handful of comments and 100 shares?

If you're lucky, of course.

Compare that to if you originally published that same content on an A or B-list blog. What do you think it'll get? Maybe 100 comments and close to, or more than, 1,000 shares?

Pretty easy decision, right?

My advice: Save your absolute best posts as guest posts for other, more popular blogs. The exposure, backlink, traffic and potential subscribers you'll get from that guest post will benefit you more than if you published it on your blog for very little people to see.

Because it's stupid.

Though you may think you're not hurting anyone, what happens when you get found out?

Let me ask you a question.

Do you know how smart your readers are?

The short answer — very. And any claim that you make, they'll look into it. And if they catch you lying about something, they'll expose you. And if that happens, what do you think will happen to your brand?

Bottom line: Be as upfront and honest as possible. Transparency is a big thing and people will respect you more if you're truthful and not trying to deceive them.

The Bottom Line

How many of these “tips” have you fallen victim to?

A couple? Maybe more?

Thing is, you're not alone. We've all fallen for one of these at some point of our blogging journey. To be completely honest, I've applied every horrible tip on this list.

Every single one.

But I learned that these were tips worth ignoring.

If you’re guilty of following some of these tips now, then you have two choices:

Ignore that you even read this post and refuse to accept that any of these “tips” are bogus.

Ignore each one of these tips and start fresh.

I can't tell you what to do, let alone which choice to choose. But isn't it time you start making decisions that can help you grow your blog — not keep it in mediocrity?

The choice is yours.

What do you think about these tips? And do you have any other horrible tips that you've been told to follow? Leave a comment below and share it with us. We'd love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Andrew M. Warner is the content writing mastermind behind ContentRanked, a site that helps marketers and businesses create content on their site that converts. When he's not creating content, he's usually networking on Twitter, over at @CopyWarner

I am so glad that these myths have been debunked. Many of them were hanging over my head. They're like laws you feel guilty about breaking.

Case in point is posting frequency. I think what you said about how it's different for some niches is worth remembering. Nobody talks about a balance between publishing new posts and promoting your existing ones.

That tiny post of 70-odd words was amazing. I'm going to try to mix in a few shorter posts but probably not that extreme!

But there are some laws you just have to question. And I do a lot of questioning when it comes to blogging. Like you said about post frequency … I'm testing that one out myself right now. I don't think it's even necessary to post every week … but I'll see. And like I said, it depends on the person and the niche.

As I've been researching and developing my consulting and coaching business I've discovered some key trends that they "experts" rarely discuss.

For example:

* It takes 10.4 pieces of content before someone will contact you on average. Why would someone choose to look at the much content from one source? Over the top fantastic content that in inspiring, relevant, compelling and interesting. Content that in one piece solves one problem for one person per piece. The good news is once they contact you they are 90% of the time ready to buy. So let them!

* Nearly 50% of respondents said in the 2015 B2B Web Usability Report that they leave a website almost immediately because of a lack of a message.

All these other things are a distraction. Too many are focusing on the wrong things as you said in the article and then wonder why their online marketing efforts are failing.

Oooh how I wish I had this list two years ago when I started exploring blogging. There's so much bunk as hell advice out there that's regurgitated at an alarming rate, it's tragic to watch others fall victim to it like I did.

The bottom line is, find people that have a business model you resonate with and explore how they're doing it. Most of the time the people preaching these absurd blogging tips aren't practicing what they preach, there just parroting what they've heard. Booooo to them!

You're so right … many people don't end up practicing what they preach … they're just acting like parrots. Beautifully put. They hear some one else say it and then a couple more people and then start telling people that's what it has to be.

No ideas original … that's what it is. Nor are they willing to take chances.

I heard most of these from so-called marketing experts! In particular, I'd heard the adage to "Keep your best content on your blog." That probably goes back to the days of article marketing and ezine directories when you could write an article, post it on your blog and then post the same article to the directories.

You're absolutely right that people will look for any sign that you're less than truthful. I once caught someone saying that she'd been broke and desperate a few years ago … but I'd known her back then and she was doing extremely well! Credibility? Zapped.

Thanks for the comment. That old adage, "Keep your best content on your blog" doesn't work when you're fairly new … and definitely doesn't work when you have less than 10K subscribers.

I make it a habit to put out some of my best content (in my opinion) on other blogs to not only provide their readers with great info, but also to help me grow. It's a win – win.

Also, that story you shared … you're so right. Credibility is completely zapped at that point. I don't really see the point in lying or misleading people. Transparency is the best thing for a blogger … whether people believe it or not. Whether it's good or bad news.

Great article Sue! Being a new Blogger, I have followed ALL of your tips over the last couple of weeks in addition to your personal help with my Blog layout and appearance. I plan to "keep on reading" for a long time to come!

I'm not sure you understand the idiom "Fake it til you make it" the same way I do, and I actually think it's great advice. I've never understood it as lying to people. For me, it means that even if I'm just starting out, I need to put out the type of content that will get me where I want to go. If I want to be known for great, humorous content, I need to write great, humorous content for the handful of followers I have, instead of slacking and throwing out a sub-par piece because, hey, only a few people will see it, so whatever.

I'm new to blogging, but I'm very experienced in performing arts, where that phrase gets used a lot. A beginner who pretends they're a pro is only beaten in how frustrating they are to deal with by a practitioner (beginner or not) who approaches their work as if it doesn't matter. A beginner who's eager to learn and is professional in their behaviour and approach – that's what that phrase has always meant to me.

"A beginner who’s eager to learn and is professional in their behaviour and approach – that’s what that phrase has always meant to me."

If a person is a beginner, why fake it? Even if you're professional in your approach and behavior. You're just starting out … it takes time. We've all been through it and we all know the struggles … no need to try to fake it until you (hopefully) make it.Andrew recently posted…6 Practical List Building Ideas That Generates Amazing Results

What a great article! I have to admit I've fallen for several of these, the "content is king" being one of the worst. Not that having great content is bad, but you could write a New York Times-worthy post and without promotion, no one will read it. Not even your mom (unless you tell her. ;))

I think another "tip" that I hear often is the importance of being constantly on social media. I've read several pretty intensive social media strategies that leave me wondering how those bloggers do things like make dinner and exercise… 😉 Seriously, though, the best advice I've read on that topic is it is more important to build a loyal following than a huge, non-caring number.

My mom refuses to read my posts lol … so I know I can't count on her for a share.

But you're so right … if you don't promote it, no matter how well it's written, it won't do you any good. It'll get lost in the shuffle.

Regarding being constantly on social media? I'm the worst at that right now. I don't have time for that. I don't know how they do it … they must be super human or something. Like you said, I have to take time and prepare dinner and sleep lol.

Standing ovation to your for this line,

"It is more important to build a loyal following than a huge, non-caring number." Couldn't agree more.

The one about writing great content and just waiting for your audience to find you always makes me want to punch something. It's usually spewed by people who were already well known or had some level of fame before they ever started a blog – so what do they know?

Also, "Design Isn't That Important" drives me nuts. My background is in user experience design so I know that when it comes to getting people to click that little buy button, design is (almost) everything!

People will never find you if you just sit around and wait. That's a given.

Yet, I still see people saying this and sharing it with people. I'm always left thinking, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?"

It makes me just want to punch something thinking about it lol.

Also, design is more important than people give it credit for. I'm just staring to realize that .. .or have been realizing that for the past 7 months or so … so I'm taking that more important now … definitely.

When Andrew writes he really knows how to connect well. I tell you that I was knodding my head to each and every one of these false tips. The 2 the I applied the most was writing every other day and with that I was writing short posts consistently. And you know what else? I wasn't getting any conversions although I was getting a decent amount of traffic and comments. I actually wrote a post on why bloggers should write short posts and got some flack about it lol.

But yes if anything we all should ignore these false tips and do the opposite. Either that or be like a hamster in a wheel, working hard but not going anywhere.

I try extra hard when I write a guest post to connect with people. And I'm glad I was able to connect with so many here from this post.

It's a double-edged sword, blogging every day is. On the one hand, you get a lot of traffic … on the other hand, you lose the engagement and comments. As a person that's all about engagement and comments, I rather post less and do that.

The fact that you got flack for sharing your OPINION on why bloggers should write short posts is asinine. It's YOUR opinion.

What an awesome article, Andrew! Totally enjoyed it and I have to admit I fell for more than one horrible tips. Now, I know. Now, I'll be smarter enough to follow your advice. And thank you so much Sue for gracing us, your audience, the presence and content of your best guest bloggers, as always. More power to both of you!

Sorry to say, I've fell for pretty much all of these. I guess at one time or another each of them had some merit. The longer blogging is around, the less each one seems relevant.

The worse one I fell for is # 2. For a while I tried posting at least three times a week. Granted I wrote some pretty decent stuff, but it really made no difference to my overall traffic. After a while I felt like I was burning myself out for nothing and throttled back. And my view count didn't really change much.

Thanks for the comment. I think a lot of people fall for the posting frequently one a lot. I started off at 5 days a week, then down to 3 days, then two then once a week. Now, I cut back to one post every two weeks … because I'm doing an experiment and I want to see if posting less and focusing on other factors, like repurposing, will increase my overall traffic.

But like you, I was burning myself out posting multiple times a week. It's a headache I find.

Great read, Andrew! I've heard them all, but it was especially helpful to see useful strategies I can pursue instead. On point #10, I think blogging can be a varrying challenge depending on your goals. If you want to monetize or build popularity, your level of commitment is different from someone who wants to blog as a creative outlet. What are your thoughts?

I know some variation of this topic has been talked about before so I wanted to do something a bit different with it. And expand on it even more.

Regarding #10, you're correct. If those are your goals, you NEED to have a different mindset and different strategies in place to help you accomplish your goals. For instance, if your goal was to make $1000 a month from blogging, you need to put strategies in place and first try to make your first $100. Then once you figured out how to do that, learn how to do it faster and increase it to $1000 total. And when you figure that out, learn how to produce those results faster.

It's all about taking specific steps and having goals in place to achieve each step. Same goes for list building and any thing else.

wow thanks so much for sharing. i agree with the fact that you shouldn't post everyday. it's pretty tiresome and you can run out of ideas really fast. i tried doing it once last year and couldn't keep up with it since i had school to maintain too. once a week is much more attainable

Thanks for the honest and informative post Andrew! As a new blogger , it is very much appreciated. There is a lot of information out there in the blogging world and it is easy to get overwhelmed. I am thrilled to get helpful direction here on Sue's website as she seems genuinely concerned in helping bloggers succeed in their blogging efforts! Thanks again for sharing this information and continued success!

It's so true that there's a lot of information that's out there … and if you're a new blogger, it WILL be overwhelming. Just know that whatever advice you hear out there from me, from Sue, from anyone, you need to know if it's best for you. And don't be afraid to test the waters and go against the grain at times too.

You really hit it out of the park, Andrew, with this post. As a relatively new blogger, I am fortunate in not having fallen for too many of these pitfalls. But I think your decision to drive the point home about promotion as more important than content is critical. I also first found out about Sue in one of Jon Morrow's discussion threads when she and I both agreed (contrary to most others on the thread) that design is indeed important. A comment wisely left above by Jane regarding user experience would support that belief.

Thanks for being so direct. All bloggers should take note of your sound advice.

Design is definitely important as well. I'm coming to truly understand that. But promotion has ALWAYS been more important than content. The ONLY time content is "king" is when you're done an exceptional job promoting it .. and promotion never stops.

Those that want to say that content is king no matter what, I have no issues with because it's their opinion. But what are their results? Are they getting hundreds of shares? Engagement? Comments?

What a wonderful post! I love number eight, it’s my favorite topic, as you probably already know. List building is near and dear to my heart.

Thanks for mentioning my name and including an image of my comment about the importance of putting unique and original images on our sites. It’s taking a while but people are catching on that images can be ranked and should be treated with lots of respect. After all, it’s content too.

So glad you’re an open-minded blogger, Andrew and accepted this when you heard it.

You really helped me with reshaping my thinking and now I know that images are just as important as content. They need to be original. And you're right, many people .. or many more people, are learning that now.

Love your blog tips. Well detailed post, every newbies should review your article. I recommend my newbie students to continue blogging minimum 2 years, and never should to quit because quitter never win.

Glad you enjoyed this post and yes, it should be a resource to many newbie bloggers. They need to learn not to take every piece of advice at face value and test things or question things from time to time.

Very informative article, and so read my mind about the guest posts, " save your best article for your guest posts" I still hoard my nest articles from.blog and write simple topics for other blogs, it is high time I should change that, thank you Andrew and Sue 🙂

Yes, posting every day won't help you out. What you should do is at least once a week and try to find other blogs (similar to yours that has the same audience) and guest post for them. That will help drive back traffic as well.

Also, I check out your blog, it's very clean looking. That's good.

You may want to consider coming up with an additional "bribe" to get people to sign up to your list, and when they do, you could have an opportunity to get them free information periodically as well as promote your workshop to them once in a while too.

Also, you may want to consider adding some video as well. Especially for the posts like high protein breakfast and everything actually. You don't necessarily have to be on camera, but you could do a slideshow/power point presentation and just talk in the background.

Hi Sue, I want to hide behind the couch in self-embarrassment when I read and identified with some (OK, most) of the tips given. Thank you for this awesome candid article, packed with wisdom for both beginner and experienced blogger, coach and internet marketer. Great job!

Engagement is always the deal-breaker for success/growth. You know Andrew, there was a time when I regularly visited certain blogs mainly because they had great comments from loyal readers (I was one, too) and I built more connections with the readers than the blogger- who often didn't connect at all! So, the lesson learned is: one can get noticed when one attends the party even if the chance to meet the host is a little remote. Isn't that funny?

Okay – great post – but point no.12: while I personally believe in long posts – I have learned that there should be a good mix. Long posts … pillar content …are all very well, but the regular reader who visits a number of blogs often skims through the posts (yeah, yeah, bullet points, sub-headings et all) and writes a "duty" comment. I've experienced that on my blog. The same reader responds quite enthusiastically to shorter posts. You might probably wonder if I am attracting the right audience 🙂 but the truth is – everyone enjoys variety. At the end of the day, it is our job to fine tune and offer what works best.

I couldn't help but snicker at a few of these. Write for everyone? Well, when you're trying to narrow down your niche, I can see the attraction of trying to cover anything. But how do you want to be known? And I've heard time, time and again how important the email list is. It's vital…not that I've really caught on to building one yet. It's on my to-do list.

That being said, there are a few things I'm guilty of. Guess I have a lot more to learn about blogging.

This is WOW list for every blogger to know and understand the insanely mistakes most of the bloggers do in the beginning of their blogging journey. It is right that most of the time is dedicated to promotion of blog and blog posts.

I've been blogging for three years and decided to scrap 300 posts and find my 'real' voice. I was tired of trying to educate and inspire, and just wanted to write humorously. That meant starting all over. Traffic has grown, but not by much, and I keep my expectations low to avoid disappointment. It's a no fail formula!

I've read so many list posts on how to have a successful blog, what not to do to have a successful blog, all the absurd things I'm doing that will ensure I'll never have a successful blog, how to foul up a successful blog, how to love and care for your blog so it grows up to be a successful and productive citizen blog; I think I've studied writing, editing, and blogging more than I did on how to raise a successful child! (This is an ah-ha moment…I have a grown son.)

Content is important; I won't read more than a sentence or two of a poorly written post. I work hard on everything I write out of respect for any readers who visit, and as an outlet to keep my neurons firing correctly as I get older. It takes a long time before I feel my posts are 'done', which could make guest posting difficult, since I constantly go back to posts and edit them.

This is okay, because no one is asking me to post on their blogs, and no one is responding to my requests for them to post on mine, or me on theirs. Blogher is the only place that seems to be open to postings from everyone, and I've never gotten traffic from there.

I would love to make money from my blog, but I don't want to pander, and I don't seem to fit a niche. I'm not a 'mommy blogger' or a travel writer, etc. I'm not even an observational writer, although I'll take observations and turn them into absurdities. When the budget allows, I think I'll just hire a web developer, who can also help me grow my traffic.

What a wonderful guest you have here this month and glad I stopped by to check out this post. Yep, the headline definitely drew me in.

Way to go Andrew and good to see you my friend. What awesome tips and I was nodding my head all the way through as I read down the list. I've heard it all and I guess you could say been there and done that. Got the t-shirt too! LOL!!!

When you said that we're given information here and there only to confuse us so we'll buy from those who are ready to save the day, I've done that more times than I care to confess. It's sad that's what they're still doing but I also agree with a lot of what you've shared here as well as what Don said. We both know that it has a lot to do with the relationships you build because as they say, build your audience first and then give them what they want. By then they are more than willing to help you with whatever it is that you need.

Loved this post and will be sure to share it as well. Thank you both for this awesome read and hope you're having a wonderful week.

Thank you sue & Andrews for this brilliant post ! I took up blogging as a past time, as I had and still have a full time job, I write when I am free and feel like writing, I have made a lot of mistakes, and have learnt to from them.

I agree that promoting the posts is an important tasks, which I have not been doing; and also to get a neat design for my blog is necessary… I am in process, in finding a mentor and also saving up some budget to get my blog designed. Thanks for sharing generously, I do appreciate and thank both of you for this post.

This post is one of a kind! It's been a long time since I read such a post, and I can say you've nailed it Andrew!

I really agree with you that posting everyday or regularly is not a good idea. I learned this trick and since I need comments on my blog, I usually leave the posts to run for sometime before publishing. I intend to write about this in my next post because I want to show bloggers how they can get more people commenting on their posts by giving readers an opportunity to read posts instead of burying them in archives.

I will ensure I read this post again bit by bit because it is so important to me.

Hi, I came across your post through a friend sharing this post on Facebook, and I am glad I hopped on here to check it out.

This post makes so much sense. I have heard all of these tips several times over. However, the one I really struggled with was 'Post more frequently'. I just couldn't do that. I could only effectively promote one post per week and have a meaningful engagement with the audience. I simply could not see the logic behind putting your time and energy into something you can't even do complete justice to. I am glad someone seems to agree. 😀 Thanks for sharing this. 🙂

That's a great story and lesson. I know many people think that even if they go on a influencers site and the influencer doesn't connect with them, it's a fail. But you can turn it into an opportunity and connect with other readers as well … which you probably never met or connected with before. SO you did an awesome thing.

Long posts … shorter posts. I'm a fan of long posts regardless … 2000+ words … but I also keep in mind that my readers might not ALWAYS like to read that many words … so I do switch it up from time to time. But longer posts are my favorite.

Building a list is important. Look at it this way … say you have a list of 1000 subscribers. If your hosting company shuts down your site for whatever reason … or your site gets hacked {knocks on wood} and everything is erased, it's much easier to rebuild your site again when you have your list. You can let them know what's going on, etc. And when you get back up and running again, they're right there.

Plus. if you ever plan to sell something from your blog, you have a much better chance to see profits from your list than from anywhere else.

Sounds like you're ahead of the game. You're absolutely right. It's not king unless you promote the ish out of it. And many people just don't understand that … or if they do understand it, they still don't do anything about it.

First off … kudos for you to want to find your real voice and write in a way your readers will enjoy. I always say you have to be real to yourself and write in a way that you're having a conversation with your readers. That always works best.

Secondly … having a successful blog takes time. It's not an overnight thing. I've been blogging for two years and things didn't start happening for me until after my first year. And it really comes down to having goals. Have a specific goal and implement certain steps that will help you achieve that goal.

Third, content is very important, but it sounds like you're a perfectionist. And that could be both good and bad. Depending on your publishing schedule, this could work against you. Sometimes it's better to write about a topic that your readers want to read and not worry about getting is completely right. You had said, "It takes a long time before I feel my posts are ‘done’, which could make guest posting difficult, since I constantly go back to posts and edit them." That's not good. Being a perfectionist when it comes to blogs … especially with each blog post, will only delay your growth and eat away at time spent elsewhere.

Regarding the traffic from the guest posts or not getting on anywhere, it all depends on HOW you pitch them too.

Lastly, in order to make money from your blog, you need to find a specific niche. I checked out your site and I don't really know what your niche is. But Sue is right, perhaps a mentor could help .. what's your goal with your website?

You and me both, heard it all before … and to some degree, done all this before too. I have the T-shirt as well. So that makes all 3 of us lol.

Sadly, I know first hand bloggers and marketers that do this specifically. Giving false information or even worse, creating pseudonyms online and giving false advice … then swooping in like Superman to save the day as themselves. It's sickening.

It's all about relationships. Like you said, build your audience first then give them what they want. You can definitely speak to that.

Posting everyday isn't for everyone. And especially if you don't have a large, engaged audience. I just stopped posting once a week recently, and I'm now posting every 2 weeks. That gives me MORE time to focus on the most important thing … Promoting.

I completely agree with you. I know Sue does too and so do many others. Posting everyday is not necessary … nor does it really help you. Unless your niche involves news or entertainment, then it should be avoided at all costs.

Hey Andrew, what a thoughtful post :). All of this assumes that someone is a relatively established blogger. The "rules" change as you become more experienced. Grammar doesn't matter as you're starting out, it will improve as you get used to writing online. Your first headlines will suck. Your first blog posts will only be read by your mom, and although there are 7 billion people in the world, not everyone will read your post.

As you grow, then content is no longer king, and keywords will no longer keep your post on message. You'll be better at calls to action as your posts are now being read to the end. You'll focus on extending the relationships, you'll probably be on your own self-hosted site at this point.

You'll still be learning, and you'll understand that the "rules" are there to be adapted. Others will tell you about faking it until you make it, and how not too. But they won't share the EXACT details of their journey, you'll only get the edited highlights.

And despite all of this, your parents will still not understand what you do x

Andrew, I was nodding my head all the way through this post because I've heard it all! And yes, I did fall victim once when I was told to blog every day. HA…After 20 days I realized it did no good at all. OK I'm a slow learner lol.

Put up a blog and money will roll in! What a joke and how misleading is that one. I still see it going around and it makes my blood boil.

When it comes to images, another pet peeve of mine. I make my own now because 2 years back there was so much controversy about terms and conditions of even paid images. To stay out of harms way, I do my own original images. They may not be the best, but it gets the job done. Plus I get some folks coming to my blog from the image I created. Some even ask my permission to use them. Fine with me because I have my mark on it lol.

This is wonderful and I will share because I see these mistakes being done many times.

You know, those that say throw up a blog and money will roll in, are just lazy individuals. They truly are. And they're unfortunately feeding lies to unsuspecting newbies who don't know any better because those individuals themselves don't know any better.

I'm all for creating original images as well. Carol really opened my eyes when she left that comment to me and I see how true it really is. And don't worry, I was a slow learner as well. I did it for a month lol.

You went all out with this one. I agree with all the point you made. Epic content is useless if its gathering dust and no one sees it. Many new bloggers get this wrong. They think, all I have to do is start a blog and tell my friends about it, then I will start having tons of comments from huge traffic referred by these friends.

three months down the line, they discover that their close friends are not their target audience and hence are not interested in what they say in their blogs. This leads to frustration.

But your list points out that content is not the only thing a new blogger should focus on. they should focus on building lasting friendships with bloggers in their niche. They should understand SEO. They should learn how to promote their content and not focus on churning out 4 articles each week.

What you said about content being useless is true. But I'm just sickened at the fact that many of us think that way. That needs to change because too many newbies are falling for it and ending up worse off than they were.

And yes, there are many things that people should ignore and many more things they should question. I just want people not to take whatever advice they get at face value. And consider if t's right for them to follow this, or if there;s another route to take.

I remember hearing Content is King so much. While it is very important, after all you wouldn't have a blog without it, it's not everything.

The people who promote #1 seem to directly connect it to #4. They make it seem like all you have to do is write it and the people will come flooding to your site. Then you learn the hard way that it doesn't work like that. All you have to do is think to yourself, "How would they know?" And the theory begins to fall apart.

You're exactly right. How WOULD they know if you just leave it and hope they would come? Where would be coming from to find your site (which is like a spec of dust in the giant desert called the Internet).

People need to lose that mentality of publishing it and they would come. Because they never do. Never will. And will never have any intentions of doing so.

I appreciate all the tips and myth busters you shared above, Andrew. I agree with a lot of those. I take everything I read on the web about "blog tips" with a grain of salt. Everyone appears to know more than the other. Frankly, if I was new to blogging, I'd be really confused. As a veteran to blogging, it can be confusing as well. WEhat I found to be helpful to me is trial and error. Read all the blog tips you want, however, no single blog or blogger is alike. Find what works best for you and the goal(s) you wish to achieve.

I shared your post on G+, and although the initial response was positive, there is currently, ehm, quite a discussion going on 🙂

As I said, I personally find that your post make sense, and I would agree with all the points. But I don't have the expertise on these issues for my opinion to "qualify" (or matter) in that particular discussion.

So if you could join us on G+ this would be great.

I tried posting a URL to the post within my comment, but it doesn't get pass the spam checker 🙁 But you'll find it if you check your G+ notifications, because I mentioned you on that post.

You are a breath of fresh air. I saw what you did on G+ and that … was … awesome. Thank you so much. I was honestly speechless after that. That was a lot of effort put into that and I saw the discussion.

I will check out the discussion momentarily. Thanks for being awesome, once again.

I love that "You Should Publish On A Regular Basis" is on this list. I struggle with that one. It's not realistic for me to post multiple times per week, so I'm happy to get the feedback that it's OK!

I have always wondered why some smaller blogs post daily as it seems like it would be harder to promote and there would be many unread posts. It also seems as if the posts are short and sometimes do not have any actual content.

So thanks for the tips! I will continue posting 1-2 times per week! And will continue to focus on sharing content.

Well, what do ya know. Here lies one of the best blogs I've ready in quite some time. To your 12th tip regarding the length of a blog, I am a testament. Despite the length of THIS blog I was still intrigued and wanted more….so I kept reading.

And it just got better!

Ever since middle school I have had a penchant for writing. In fact, at times it seems as though I can't stop. So now that I'm blogging I thought, "maybe I should shorten my blogs and break them up into smaller pieces."

Glad that you were able to clarify that because I was a victim of #12.

To add one more point, would you consider guest blogging and sharing your posts equally important?

I ask this because of the potential exposure one can get organically. I have been a victim of NOT pumping and promoting the posts I publish. SO very easy to overlook this, as you're conditioned to believe that proper SEO and key wording will suffice.

I really like this informative piece.. You may have very well earned yet ANOTHER link into your site (from me). This was great, yet serious stuff here. WELL DONE.

Emily, with 90% frequency, too! It's almost like we have to re-train our thinking into PROMOTING the post as opposed to creating a quantity of posts. I am glad that you were able to get a fresh perspective from this blog as I certainly did. Take care.

Yea, to me, it makes no sense to publish everyday. Many people would have you believe that because they publish everyday, they're getting search engine traffic and their content is always fresh … but if you publish content daily, you're doing your readers a disservice. Mainly because you're not the only blogger they read, they have a handful more that they read and if the quality of your content isn't great, you're just wasting their time.

And also, daily publishing leave very little time for promotion. The only person I see getting away with a near daily posting schedule is Neil Patel and he can just have success based off his name.

This was such a helpful article. I have read so many contradicting things out there to get followers and grow my blog. I am completely new to this and have been overwhelmed with what to do and what not to do. I think the reasons why certain things won't work and what will was very beneficial. Thanks!

It can be very confusing with the oodles of contradicting information out there, but that's where each person has to decide which information to actually take at face value. Not everybody is right … so the onus is on you to figure out what really works best for you.

Excellent post. I especially love the images tip. My blog is still quite new and I can already feel the lack of personal flair. Branding and images are the one thing that keep coming to mind as the next major building block.

Definitely building your own images stands out as important.

I would also add that just as important as doing it yourself is knowing what kinds of images will bring your blog to life. What is the visual equivalent of your stated goals, and how do you get people to instantly connect your content to your look? An obvious example would be not having pictures of cute cats if your blog is about accounting!

I would also believe the content with more context will get more attention. For say, giving examples or citing case studies , providing infographics will give more content and increase the audience curosity ..